1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens-fitted photographic film unit which is thinner than known units and which is provided with a grip that makes it easier to hold.
2. Prior Art
In the lens-fitted photographic film unit disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,649, a taking lens, a film advancing mechanism and a shutter mechanism are incorporated in a main body. A photographic film cassette with a 135-type photographic film as defined by ISO code 1007, 1979 version is contained in the main body which is covered by a front cover and a rear cover for protecting the main body as well as the photographic film in a light-tight manner. The main body is provided on opposite horizontal sides of an exposure chamber with a film take-up chamber and a film supply chamber. When the unit is new, the film take-up chamber accommodates the photographic film cassette while the film supply chamber accommodates the photographic film wound in a roll after having been drawn out of the photographic film cassette. The rolled photographic film is rewound on a spool of the photographic film cassette in the film take-up chamber step-by-step, once for each exposure. Such a lens-fitted photographic film unit is box-shaped, and its thickness parallel to the optical axis of the taking lens is only slightly greater than the diameter of the photographic film cassette, in order to enhance its portability.
However, research has recently been carried out in an effort to make the size of compact cameras approach that of a cigarette case or even the size of a credit card. This trend has also been carried out in lens-fitted photographic film units. For this purpose, it has been sought to provide a photographic film cassette with a smaller diameter in order to use it in a lens-fitted photographic film unit. However, this proposal is unacceptable since such a new type of photographic film cassette would require alteration of conventional photographic printers.
The fact that the diameter of the 135-type photographic film cassette cannot be reduced has been an obstacle to making lens-fitted photographic film units thinner. Moreover, miniaturizing cameras increases the danger of occurrence of camera shaking at the time of shutter release.